CAN YOU SAY “DRAMA QUEEN?”

Why the drawn out progression to get you to doing a single leg (transitional) kettlebell swing? Especially when you could just grab a bell and jump right into a side-stepping swing or a forward walking swing? Simple, it is not about being able to do a single leg swing at all – if that is your only goal, stop reading now and go swing. I apologize that I have wasted the past 2 weeks of your life while you were hanging on each of my words. If you want to do a single leg swing – go for it.

However, these last 3 posts are not about the transitional swing. It is about learning and following a process – that process is applying the progressions that exist within the Neurodevelopmental Continuum (NDC) to the swing. There are a lot of people and organizations that give great lip service to applying “developmental kinesiology” or “human development” or even “movement principles.” They do an AMAZING job talking about it. A few years back I sat through arguably the BEST lecture on human movement I had ever sat through.  Normally, I’m a back row Baptist, but I was moved to the point that I was ready to start throwing “Halleluja’s” around after the lecture.  Then, we came back for the hands-on portion.  I thought we were getting punked – it was the absolute WORST.  In the Rehab Industry as well as the Strength and Conditioning Industry, there is a definite chasm between theory and application – and this is where I think a lot of the confusion comes from.  Then you watch what a lot of the so-called experts do, and their own application of their own words falls short of the goal line. I always wonder this: “If you can’t even apply your teachings, how can anyone else?”

No matter what anyone tells you, the rules of movement are written within the NDC. These rules apply to ALL movement and guide all movement progressions, regressions, all movement integration, all movement restoration, all strength and conditioning programs, all rehabilitation programs, and pretty much anything that involves people that are moving. Which means, in any progression, these rules can be applied – but first, you have to know the rules. The 3-week buildup to the transitional swing was about applying the following rules:

1. Simple to complex: We progressed from a deadlift/swing with few ‘wiggly parts” to a deadlift/swing with a lot of wiggly parts. We also progressed from a wide and stable Base of Support (BoS) to an offset and moving BoS.
2. Control before movement: Again, we learned to control each bell combination and foot set up with a deadlift before we created power with a swing (we could have also gone through a series of hike passes at each to regress even further.
3. Symmetrical before asymmetrical: This is easy to see at the feet – symmetrical BoS to a transitional Asymmetrical BoS, but we snuck in the same approach with the upper body. We began with a single bell and both arms locked in doing the same thing to two equal bells doing the same thing and then on to two different sized bells that were moving over an everchanging BoS.
4. Slow to fast: Deadlift to Swing.  We also could have regressed even further to just getting into the bottom shape of each DL and going through a breathing protocol – you would be begging to swing after 3:00 of this…trust me. Oxygen is mucho bueno.
5. Midline out: This progression focused on establishing control at the trunk and pelvis before we moved into getting the legs and arms up to speed with each progressive advancement.

I often think back to the story of Sisyphus and the rock (STOP! and watch this video -for real). What is the epitome of Mastering Movement? Where is the peak? When do we get to a point where we stop and look back at what has been achieved? Well, thanks to the one thing that makes us human -our adaptability- as soon as we do that we fall off the cliff. As soon as we stop and are satisfied with what we have done up to that point we begin to adapt backward.  We always have to keep pushing forward because the movement journey is never over – there is no coasting on what we accomplished yesterday.

How we move is constantly evolving based on what we are currently doing.

 

 

THE TRANSITIONAL SWING PROPER

So, here we go – the actual transitional swing. It took three weeks to get here, so let’s review and move forward with our progression:
Part 1:
1. Vanilla deadlifts
2. Vanilla swings
3. Symmetrical stance, 2kb-2arm Deadlift
4. Symmetrical stance, 2kb-2arm swing
5. Symmetrical stance, asymmetrical load 2kb-2arm deadlift
6. Symmetrical stance, asymmetrical load 2kb-2 arm swing

Part 2:
3. Symmetrical stance, 2kb-2arm Deadlift (heavier)
4. Symmetrical stance, 2kb-2arm swing (heavier)
7. Asymmetrical stance, symmetrical load 2kb-2arm offset deadlift
8. Asymmetrical stance, symmetrical load 2kb-2arm offset swing

Part 3:
9. Asymmetrical stance, Asymmetrical load 2kb-2arm offset deadlift
10. Asymmetrical stance, Asymmetrical load 2kb-2arm offset Swing
11. Transitional stance, symmetrical load 2kb-2arm Transitional Deadlift
12. Transitional stance, symmetrical load 2kb-2arm Transitional Swing

You probably noticed that there was a small regression in Part 2- good catch. We do that as a speed bump because of the forces associated with the swing. This was just a way to ensure that once we were asymmetrically set up, loaded, and moving that we had done all we could to ensure we were ready to handle the forces to come. Remember, one of the NDC rules we follow is symmetrical before asymmetrical. Here, we honor this in regards to the forces we are controlling and redirecting.  (If you REALLY want to experience the effect of the transitional swing, once you have it down only do it on one leg.  The next day you will wonder how one little glute could be so sore…)

IN CONCLUSION

Like I led with- you could have jumped right to a single leg swing 3 weeks ago and gone to town. But, so what – there is no stripe you get on a belt, or a patch, or a certificate for doing a single leg swing. The only thing you get is the journey – did you gain anything from the journey or were you just wanting a cool patch? The progression (journey) we went through is the same progression you can apply to ANY exercise you are wanting to progress or regress. If your only progression is to make things heavier, then please ask whoever taught you for your time and money back – they failed you.

WHEN YOU MOVE TOWARDS MASTERING THE PROCESS YOU BECOME SELF-SUFFICIENT.

WHEN YOU CHASE MASTERING EXERCISE, YOU BECOME A LIFELONG CONTRIBUTOR TO SOMEONE ELSE’S RETIREMENT FUND.

Hope you enjoyed the process.

#MoveOut